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As if we needed any more proof that the idea of punishing college-bound students for a little pot was idiotic and depraved – a new working paper shows that denying federal financial aid to college-bound students caught with drugs delays their higher education or halts it entirely.

Tens of thousands of kids – especially ones from the inner city, and first-generation college students – were denied higher education because Congress passed a law that went into effect in 2001 denying student aid to those convicted of possessing a joint.

The point of the law was to discourage drug use, but the study found that drug use didn’t change at all after the law took effect. All that happened was we denied higher education to people who were smart enough for it. That’s insane. Especially when one of the biggest predictors of drug abuse and addiction is, you guessed, low educational attainment and unemployment.

Freakonomics brings us news of the paper, from economists Michael F. Lovenheim and Emily G. Owens.

In 2001, amendments to the Higher Education Act made people convicted of drug offenses ineligible for federal financial aid for up to two years after their conviction. Using rich data on educational outcomes and drug charges in the NLSY 1997, we show that this law change had a large negative impact on the college attendance of students with drug convictions. On average, the temporary ban on federal financial aid increased the amount of time between high school graduation and college enrollment by about two years, and we also present suggestive evidence that affected students were less likely to ever enroll in college. Students living in urban areas and those whose mothers did not attend college appear to be the most affected by these amendments.”

The researchers conclude that:

“[B]y forcing drug offenders to wait two years before enrolling in college, HEA1998 lowered the lifetime earnings of these at-risk students without generating benefits to society through reduced crime.”

Why is Congress sentencing smart kids to lower lifetime earnings and increased risk of addiction? It’s almost like they want up-and-comers and inner city youths to fail.

So remember kids, “pot will ruin your life” (and if it doesn’t, the government will finish the job).

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